tv CNN Newsroom Live CNN November 8, 2020 9:00pm-10:00pm PST
9:00 pm
america speaks. joe biden wins the 2020 presidential election. >> i pledge to be a president, who seeks not to divide, but to unify. >> and kamala harris makes history. after four years of president trump, can president-elect biden bring the country together now? i'll speak to senior adviser symone sanders and white house majority whip, james sanders next. and sore loser. president trump casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election with no evidence. >> this is an embarrassment to our country. >> will the president concede? what is the future of the republican party? two prominent republicans, mitt romney and larry hogan join me
9:01 pm
to discuss. plus, clipping blue. joe biden wins in georgia and other republican-held states. as both sides work to get out the vote, did progressives and black americans make the difference? we'll talk exclusively with voting rights leader, stacy aprogram abra abrams, and alexandria casio cortez. i'm jake tapper in washington, with the state of our union is turning the proverbial page. joe biden will be the 46th president of the united states. and by his side, the first woman vice president, kamala harris. last night, the vice president addressed the nation, saying he would be a president for all americans. >> folks, i'm a proud democrat. but i will govern as an american
9:02 pm
president. i'll work as hard for those who didn't vote for me. as those who did. let this grim era of demonization in america begin to end here and now. >> he called this time in america, quote, time to heal, the wounds of conviction. also, ravages of a pandemic that's killed 237,000 americans and is only getting worse. one thing the new president-elect could not mention last night, a concession call, a tradition in democracies and a call that president trump got from hillary clinton but is refusing to offer vice president-elect biden. instead, president trump is pursuing legal action that his team has not presented any
9:03 pm
evidence for widespread fraud or irregularities to date. and election officials coast-to-coast attest to a clean and fair election. even the president's son-in-law and top adviser, jared kushner, has approached the president to conceding. today, we have a commercial-free hour of "state of the union" for you. including democrats like james clay burn and alexandria ocas ocasio-cort ocasio-cortez. and mitt romney and larry hogan. we're going to begin in wilmington, delaware, where we're joined by symone sanders. thanks for joining us. congratulations on this victory. hard-fought, long-fought. i have to ask you about this moment, from kamala harris. take a listen. >> while i may be the first woman in this house, i will not be the last.
9:04 pm
>> tens of millions of women, voted for this ticket. if you can take off your politico hat for one second, i want to ask you, as a black woman, what does this moment feen for you? >> thanks for having me this morning, jake. last light was historic and remarkable. as vice president-elect harris said in her speech last night, the audacity, the boldness of president-elect joe biden, to choose her as his running mate, to help break a glass ceiling that has had many cracks but has not yet been shattered. it's amazing. i had the opportunity to travel with president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect senator harris. i'm in awe of both of them. the american people picked a good ticket. there's a lot of work to be done. vice president-elect harris
9:05 pm
noticed she may be the first but maybe not the last. she may be the first to do many things but you should not be the last. folks all over the world, said we are the united states of america. there's nothing we cannot do, and we saw that on display here tonight. last night. >> has anyone from the white house or pr republican leadership, reached out to president-elect biden in any way? >> i think there's been a number of republicans who reached out. i don't think president-elect biden has reached out. i think the white house has made clear what their strategy is here, and they are going to continue to participate and push forward the flailing and in many
9:06 pm
respects baseless legal strategies. the people, jake, are the folks that decide elections in this country. and the people have spoken. >> you won because biden delivered on his promise to voters to rebuild the blue wall. i have to say, to president trump, he got his voters to the polls there, too. he won more voters in pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan than four years ago. he won millions more voters nationally. obviously, you won more. i guess my question is how did you rebuild the blue wall? did you get your voters in the urban centers to turn out? was it winning over and switching suburban voters? did you narrow the margins in rural areas? strategically, how was it done? >> i think it was all of the above, jake. if you'll look at the numbers and i know there will be many pieces written about this over
9:07 pm
the next couple of days, that biden coalition was, yes, suburban voters and it was black voters and latino voters, it was native american voters in places like arizona, for example. we couldn't have won without the latino vote but also couldn't have would this without indigenous people and let's be very clear. it was working class folks from across the spectrum. yes, we narrowed the margin in many rural areas. i would argue we rebuilt the blue wall because joe biden's message was a message that resonated with folks across the spectrum and that message was one of restoring the soul of this nation and rebuilding the backbone of this country, the middle class in a way everyone comes along and uniting the country. that's the message he started this campaign with and the message he ended with. he knew why he was running and he knew what resonated with people across this country. >> a "the washington post" report about some of the executive actions that president-elect biden will take on his first day in office reversing the so-called muslim ban and other things. can you tell us what we are most likely to see on the first day?
9:08 pm
>> we have a little over 70 days so i hope folks give us a moment to pull it together. i can tell you this, that throughout the campaign, joe biden has noted that there are a number of things that we need to tackle and do and that we will need to start on day one. yes, that includes addressing the climate crisis. yes, that includes in his 100-day strategy, building on the success of the obama/biden 21st century task force on policing. tackling the virus. on than most, we will announce the covid-19 task force into a plan that the government can use. what i can tell you right now today is that joe biden is going to make good on his promises on the campaign trial. >> we saw a lot of celebrations of president-elect biden's victory in the streets. so many major cities. new york, chicago, atlanta, philly. i know what we saw on the screen a lot of people were wearing masks but not all of them were. cdc guidelines say even if you're wearing a mask, you
9:09 pm
should avoid crowds. new coronavirus cases are soaring. we have just had some of the worst days for new infection of the entire pandemic. is it incumbent upon president-elect biden to make it clear to his supporters that crowds are a bad idea during this pandemic, even if people are wearing masks and he understands that they want to celebrate but they shouldn't be filling the streets like that? >> i think we have made it clear, jake. president-elect joe biden is going to continue to speak out on this in the next coming days and weeks as our task force comes together and recommendations are put forward. if folks will notice, last night here in wilmington, we had a car rally. folks were in their cars. some people were sitting on top of their cars. and that was because that is a safe way to gather. so we weren't creating a crowd where people are standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
9:10 pm
i know folks are excited. there are many people looking forward to a new day actually turning the corner and getting this virus under control. but we are imploring folks across the country to be safe, wear your mask, social distance. the virus is very real and it's deadly. >> symone sanders, congratulations. really appreciate it. if you can remember back to february, the south carolina primary that started the biden campaign wave that is now crested in his presidency. joining me now is a man who was essential, even pivotal to that win. house majority whip congressman james clyburn whose endorsement before the south carolina primary gave new life to somewhat flailing campaign of joe biden. thank you for joining us. i want you to take a listen to what president-elect biden had to say last night about the black communities. >> especially when the campaign was at its lower ebb, the african-american community again stood up for me!
9:11 pm
you've always had my back and i'll have yours. >> i don't think so it's hyperbole to say were it not for you and black voters in south carolina, i don't know what i would be covering this morning. you gave biden's campaign new life and if it were not for you, i don't know if he would have gotten the nomination and i don't know if i would be covering a democratic president-elect and kamala harris as vice president-elect or the re-election of donald trump. what do you think about that? >> first of all, thank you for having me. but, you know, when i was to the how to be involved in the campaign i was always going to vote for joe biden, bull not until an account in a rural church in -- county, south carolina, with an elderly lady sitting on the front bench and she called me over to her. and she asked me who was i going to vote for.
9:12 pm
when i told her -- it's kind of interesting because she said if you don't want anybody else to hear, just lean down and whisper it in my ear. and i did what she asked me to do. but she snapped her head back and the way she looked in my face and told me, i needed to hear that and this community needs to hear from you. and that what made me do what i did in the manner that i did it. so it all bubbled up from the people that i serve. so i think that is what it's all about. >> do you think, as many observers do, that joe biden may have been the only democrat because of his life story, because of the fact that the american people knew him so he
9:13 pm
was relatively immune to the smearing that the president attempted of him? because of his connections to the black community and barack obama? because of his connections to white voters and his time growing up in scranton? do you think that he might have been the only democrat that could have beaten president trump who you would acknowledge is a real political force in the united states? >> that's what i thought. i looked at all of the candidates ian i'm friends,, i mean, close friends with a lot of them but i came to the conclusion after that experience in the church, calling a few people, i just came to the conclusion that joe biden was our best bet. i won't say i is the only one but i will say i thought he was the best bet to go into the general election because incumbency is what it is and it's a real force when you can master the levels of government all across the country.
9:14 pm
you can really get things done that sometimes cannot be seen with the naked eye. so with all of this as a backdrop, i just felt a guy who had been vice president to the first african-american president of the united states for eight years and very loyal vice president. and because he spent so much time in south carolina. delaware being the state that it is, a part of brown voter education. a lot of people don't recognize that. brown v. education started in south carolina but five states and district of columbia involved in that. these are the kind of experiences that joe biden has had and i've talked to him about them for 20-some on the years. so i believe that he was the best bet. >> joe biden has been president-elect hours now. trump has not conceded the
9:15 pm
races. should trump concede the race and how should president-elect biden handle this potentially volatile situation? >> i think trump should concede but i think the republican party has a responsibility here. this country is bigger than any one person. this democracy is teetering. he called it inflection point. we are in a very dire set of consequences here and we had better get hold of ourselves and this country and stop catering to whims of one person. so it doesn't matter to me whether or not he concedes. what matters to me is whether or not the republican party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy. we have been the envy of the world but we have also received a lot of distain from places around the world.
9:16 pm
see, i'm old enough to remember nikita kucherov. i remember that speech to the united states where he looked out and said, "we will bury you." i will never forget that. so i don't understand how the republicans can allow putin to dictate the fortunes of this country and that is what is going on here. >> yeah. so majority whip clyburn, i want to ask you there is, obviously, going to be some struggles between the moderate wing of the democratic party and the progressive wing of the democratic party. congresswoman spanberger who represents a competitive trump district in virginia called tuesday's election in which house democrats lost seats, she called it failure for house republicans and appeared to blame progressives for the parties underperforming for some
9:17 pm
house races and says they should use socialist again and expressed dismay she had to the concept of defunding the police and more. you were on that conference call. do you share your concern about progressives in the party moving the party too far to the left? >> jake, you must remember months ago i came out forcibly against sloganary. john lewis and i were cofounders of the student nonviolent committee. john and i sat on the house floor and talked about that defund police slogan and both of us concluded that it had the possibilities of doing to the black lives matter movement and current movements across the
9:18 pm
country what burn v. burn did to us in the 1960s. we lost the movement over that slogan. a lot of people don't realize. but john lewis walked across the edmund pettis bridge in 1965. a year later we got the voting rights act that. a year after that, john lewis was ousted as chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. we saw the same thing happening here. i spoke about against that and i feel very strongly, we can't pick up these things just because it makes a good headline. it sometimes destroys -- we need to work on what makes headway rather than what makes headlines. >> imagine chip james clyburn and the most powerful african-american in the united states government, until january 20th, we should note, when vice president-elect kamala harris
9:19 pm
takes office. it's been an honor having you on the show. thanks so much. >> thank you very much for having me. president trump yet to call or concede this race to president-elect biden. my next guest knows about displaying class and humility in a concession speech to a divided nation. joining me now, is republican senator mitt romney of utah. senator romney, thank you so much for joining us. it's much appreciated. it's no secret you've had your differences with president trump and you said you weren't going to vote for him. do you think ultimately it's a good thing for the country that joe biden is the president-elect? >> well, i think half the country thinks it's a great idea. i think the other half thinks it's not such a great idea, but the reality is given the fact that the statisticians have come to a conclusion at this stage, i think we get behind the new president, unless for some reason that is overturned, we get behind the new president and wish him the very best. ann and i send our congratulations and will keep
9:20 pm
this president, like the last president, in our prayers. >> you said you weren't going to vote for president trump. did you vote for joe biden? >> i'm not going to talk about my vote. that's in the rearview mirror. i'm talking about how i can work with the new president. i know he's on the other side the aisle but i want to make sure we conservatives keep on fighting to make sure we don't have a green new deal and don't get rid of gas and coal and oil and that we don't have a make for all plan put in place and we don't raise taxes on american enterprise, that would kill the economy. so -- i will congratulate him but i'm not going to put away principles. >> areas you think you can work with him? >> i've not spoken with president-elect biden. i expect i'll do so at some point but i presume there is a long line of people wishing him well and offering to work in a collaborative way.
9:21 pm
yeah, a number of places where we can work together. health care is one of those. look. obamacare not working for millions and millions of americans and we have to fix it. i would rather see is overturned and replaced but unless the court tells us to do that, we have to fix it the way it is and something we can do. we need to get drug prices down and find a way to end surprise billing. we have some ideas on that. an area the president-elect has spoken about i agree on is finding help with family with kids. a more extensive -- so there is some work to be done and hopefully, we will find some common ground. >> why do you think so few of your colleagues, republicans on capitol hill, have congratulated president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris or even acknowledged that they won? >> well, i can't speak for the others but it is a close race --
9:22 pm
wait until not just the word of fox and cnn and ap. >> president trump is saying he won the election and not questions about this place or that place. we should note ben ginsburg who is a cnn commentator has looked into the complaints about voter fraud and the like and he doesn't see any of these complaints as having merit. election officials in philadelphia, republican election officials and throughout the country, say this was a clean election. does it concern you at all that president trump and his team are out there saying that he won and lying about the integrity of the election with wild allegations? >> you're not going to change the nature of president trump in these last days, apparently, of his presidency. he is who he is. and he has a relatively relaxed relationship with the truth.
9:23 pm
9:24 pm
>> have you seen any evidence -- well, i haven't personal. i've listened to commentators on your network and other networks, people who are registrars of certain states. there are recounts that will go on. you have states the margin are 10 thousand and other states it's 20,000 and 30,000. when the numbers are that low, why, there is a potential for a reversal. so, you know, i understand why the president wants to keep on fighting. i do believer, however, it's destruct sixth inning to the cause of democracy to suggest widespread fraud or corruption. there is just no evidence of
9:25 pm
that at this stage. and i think it's important for us to recognize that the world is watching. i think -- by the way, for all of us whether we are in the senate or the governors homes or with the president himself you think of the line -- i think it's important what the history is seeing and what the world is seeing and i think it's important for us to stand up and defend the institutions of democracy. it's essential for our democracy and our republic that these institutions are given credibility and we will follow the normal course of an election doing recounts, investigate irregularities and when it's over, it will be over. >> so just a quick yes or no. you don't think anyone is trying to steal the election? >> oh, i'm sure individuals would like to be able to but i don't think there is a widespread conspiracy of some kind. those things just don't happen the way people would anticipate they might. you've got several states, a number of states that have come out in favor of joe biden's election and so you might get a change in one state, but getting
9:26 pm
enough to change the outcome, i think, is pretty difficult at this stage. >> speaking of history. you ran for president. you were the republican nominee in 2012. you conceded to then president barack obama back then. i want to play a little bit of what you said in that speech. >> i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory, hit supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. the nation shows another leader so ann and i join with us to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. >> the difference between that statement, which i'm sure was not easy to give and what we have heard from president trump, is like night and day, senator. is it important, do you think, for the country that president trump, the immortal words of the mayor of philadelphia, put on his big boy pants and formally concede and reassuring his supporters that joe biden is the
9:27 pm
duly elected president of the united states? >> first, jake, thanks for that walk down memory lane. i had forgotten i lost. >> i'm citing it only as an example of your dignity and grace, senator. >> thanks. >> i know you're self-facing but i'm citing it because it's a model for how democracy works. >> i just don't think expect president trump to react in the way presidential candidates have in the past. he is a different person than presidential candidates in the past. he has his own manner and he is responding in a way which is entirely with everything we have seen during his campaigns and, of course, during his presidency. so he is going to do what he is going to do. but in the final analysis, there is going to a recount i'm sure in a number of states. there will be an investigation carried out.
9:28 pm
and there will be a resolution in the courts, if necessary, and when that is all said and done, the president doesn't have a choice. people think, well, gosh, can we remove him from office? you don't have to remove him from office. if he does not win on a legitimately basis, he ceases to be president when joe biden is sworn in. it's as simple as that. i would prefer to see the world watching a more grateful departure, but that is not in the nature of the man. >> president president-elect biden sad i last night he has a mandate basically to compromise. take a listen. >> refusal of democrats and republicans to cooperate with one another. it's not a mysterious force beyond our decision. it's a choice to make. if we decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. >> so that is president-elect biden putting out his hand of
9:29 pm
compromise to republicans. i've heard from you today, areas where you think you can agree and work together at the very least. but there are a lot of trump allies, senator cruz, senator graham out there echoing president trump's false claims about the election. do you think republicans in the senate will ultimately be able to work with president-elect biden once he becomes president and actually do the business of the american people? >> well, we have no choice and we have a responsibility we are going to have to live up to. we begin i think with immediate need to get relief to families and small businesses that are suffering as a result of the economic downturn associated with covid. that is something we are going to have to do and we are going to have do it in a bipartisan basis. i think you'll recognize as well that we will be able to work together on health care and education and the environment. does that mean we will see eye-to-eye entirely?
9:30 pm
no. but i think the president-elect recognizes that republicans gained seats in congress. republicans, overall, did better than democrats overall in this election. so if it comes down to a question about what does america wants in terms of policy? pretty clear no green deal and no medicare for all and american people are conservative so to speak and any argument to the contrary i think is going to be met with a lot of resistance from the american people and for members of congress. can we find common ground? yeah. and if joe biden works with republicans in the senate, he is going to have we will be able to find common ground. he has been there a long time himself and he knows what it takes to get things done in that chamber. >> i would agree with you it was a good night for republicans in
9:31 pm
general on election day, except for president trump as you note. as of right now, republicans picked up four seats in the house and maintained control of the senate, at least of right now. the rejection was not necessarily of conservatism but of president trump. i know it's not been easy for you as somebody standing up for facts and for basic decency and dignity during the trump era. at times, you've been -- you've commented on it yourself like the skunk at a garden party. i'm wondering how you think history will judge the republican party during this era? i'm not talking about justice amy coney barrett or tax cuts, i'm talking about mocking the disabled, i'm talking about child separation, i'm talking about 25,000 lives by president trump, and the complicit of so many republican leaders of just
9:32 pm
basic indecency by president trump. >> i think everybody has to make their own decision as to when they are going to speak out and when they are not. i think it was senator richard burr who was asked about a tweet that some people found offensive and what he thought about it it. he said if i spend my career here in the senate responding to every tweet of the president's i disagree with, why that would be all i'd be doing. so i think people had to make an assessment when it was appropriate and necessary to speak out. i probably did more frequently than others but other folks like myself who did speak out when they felt that the president had gone across a bright red line. i also don't think that history will look at a party so much as it looks at individuals. and everybody has to do what they feel is right. i think my colleagues and i know i've had conversations with a number of republican senators, some more troubled than others by things that were going on but each person followed their conscience in the way they thought was best and what they thought was right and some recognized we have to get along even when we disagree and there is no particular upside' and
9:33 pm
criticizing every fault and i don't intend to criticize every fault of president biden's either. i will, from time to time, i'm sure have something to say when i think he makes a big mistakes and i'm sure he will make mistakes from time to time. but as to a daily commentary on president trump's faults or the faults of future president i think is up to each individual to assess on their own. >> senator mitt romney of utah, thank you for your time and we appreciate it. best to you and ann. >> thanks, jake. good to be with you. what if i were to tell you -- what if i were to tell 2016 rather that georgia might turn blue four years later? that is the situation right now. joe biden is clinging to a slim lead in the state. which will go to a recount. joining me now, is former gubernatorial candidate and founder of fair fight, stacey
9:34 pm
abrams and author of "our time is now." thank you so much for joining us, leader abrams i should call, i suppose. congratulations on the hard-fought election victory. it's too early to call in georgia but more nationally, i know you were a big early supporter of joe biden. >> absolutely. and we are so proud of the work that the biden campaign did in georgia but we are incredibly excited about the work that has been done on the ground for the last decade to bring us to this point. and we are so excited to be going blue. >> so leader abrams, biden currently holds a slim lead above 10,000 votes in georgia. it is going to a recount. when the recount is over, do you think it's going for biden? >> i do. we know that whether it's tomorrow or next week, the results will be the same, that joe biden has won the state of georgia.
9:35 pm
>> many are pointing to you and your activism in voter registration and voter mobilization as the driving force behind the georgia results. did you see tangible results from your efforts? >> we have been working at this for more than a decade and there have been dozens of organizations and hundreds of people who have made this mayor primary mission. i've been privileged to be able to bring to bear resources, both before the election of 2018 and then the 40 million dollars we were able to spend in 2018 to build democratic infrastructure that may not have yielded a victory for mere but did this week. the that is why we are encouraging people to go to ga senate.com to be supportive of those efforts. >> two special elections and neither candidate made the 50% cutoff in your two senate races earlier this week or last week.
9:36 pm
if you could take off your politician hat for one second, what does it mean to you that a black woman is now the vice president-elect of the united states? >> it is a privilege in this nation to be able to see yourself reflected in the face of leadership and for both the african-american community and the indian american community and for women of collar at large. kamala harris election signals that the face of leadership does change, that we do have a role to play beyond being supporters and advocates and we can be the leaders of this country and i think an exceptional moment we are experiencing in this country. >> president trump we should note did make some inroads in some minority communities. what do you think that played in biden's victory and where are areas that democrats still need to work on?
9:37 pm
>> as they have said many times, latino community is not a monolist. it was the latino community that delivered arizona and the latino community that delivers nevada. latino voters in georgia are in the central part of the coalition that will elect joe biden here in georgia. what we have to understand is that for minority communities, there has to be consistent engagement and that is one of the hallmarks i think of the work we have done here in georgia. we began early on staying that this is not about black and white. this is about pulling together coalitions of people of color, of the poor, of the disadvantage, of the marginalized and be consistent with our engagement and not waiting for an election to meet them and not at the end of an election to acknowledge their value. we have been doing this work this from the very beginning. i want to acknowledge the work of progressive whites helping to build these opportunities as well. we are not a majority minority
9:38 pm
country yet and means a coalition has to be built and sustained across racial lines and across demographic and geography because our mission took be the action for all. >> some media organizations have called arizona for biden he does lead there by many thousand votes. cnn has not yet called arizona. it appears likely that both senate races in georgia are going to head to this january runoff and could decide control of the senate as you just noted. voter turnout typically drops in runoff elections but also an election without donald trump at the top of the ticket. do you think democrats have a chance to win both seats? >> absolutely. i want to push back about the notion we can't win in georgia. years past we have had runoff elections whether the '92 or 2008 elections in both elections we elected democratic presidents and democratic presidents who had strong support in the u.s. senate. this is the first time that we
9:39 pm
will have three things happen. one, we have got john osshoff' top of the ticket to making sure democrats come back and we will have the investment and resources never followed our runoffs in georgia for democrats. and, number three, this is going to be the determining factor of whether we have access to health care and justice in the united states. those are two issues that will make certain that people turn out. we know this is going to be a hard fight and it's a competitive fight. but that is why we encourage people to go to ga senate.com to learn more about the two fantastic candidates. two men who are going to make certain that joe biden has the leadership and support and congressional mandate he needs to move this country forward. >> you heard imagine whip jim clyburn earlier in the show talking about how some of the sloganeering, his word, not mine, burn, baby burn, in the '60s turning voters off. he said earlier this week, socialize medicine and defund the police and we are not going
9:40 pm
to win the georgia senate races. does he have a point? >> i have watched john osshoff and speak to the needs and desires of georgia voters. we live in a state is being overrun by covid with failed leadership from our governor and donald trump and they have a plan to make certain we survive and recover. i've watched the issues of access to justice verbal through the state of georgia. we watched it both with the brooks case and auberry case and we need justice belongs to all. these are the conversations we are having. we know corruption is a part of the conversation. because some decided to profit off covid rather than help the people of georgia and the message they carry and the consistent message that holds true to what they have been doing since this race began and i have no doubt that the message in georgia will be one that resonates and one that convinces
9:41 pm
georgia voters that coming out on january 5th and supporting john osshoff and rafael warnock is the way to move this country. >> former leader of legislature, stacey abrams. congratulations on hard-fought, long fought victory. >> thank you so much. the more progressive side of the democratic party was a key part that spanned from the left to republicans to get mr. biden to the white house. joining me is soon to be sophomore congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. congratulations on being a sophomore. >> thank you so much. good to level up. >> congresswoman, how much does joe biden owe the progressive movement and progressive leaders for his victory? >> well, i think i believe that president-elect biden in his acceptance speech last night he acknowledge would the groups of latinos and others that played
9:42 pm
in his victory. we know majority are a progressive and make up the progressive base of the democratic party. i believe when we gin up the grassroots and we celebrate them to the election, we should also celebrate them in our governance. i think a fair amount for us. i think we owe everyday communities and i think we owe the poor, middle class, working class, black communities, communities of color, immigrant communities a great deal in seeing them and honoring them in our legislation. >> if you could take off your congresswoman hat for just one second, i want to ask you on a personal note, what does it mean to you as a woman of color to see a black woman as vice president-elect of the united states? >> i mean, it's really incredible. for so many of us, especially
9:43 pm
women, we have grown up. i know my entire childhood we agree up being told women are too emotional and this country would never elect, first, a black president and, luckily, that happened with the election of barack obama, but now a woman of color and no less a black woman to the second highest seat in the land. it's really remarkable and you can't be what you can't see that is very often said and it's so amazing that so many little girls are growing up with this being a norm for them. >> biden is planning a wave of executive orders to roll back some of trump's policies once he takes office on everything from climate to the so-called muslim ban. as of now, however, it looks as though republicans, at least until january, will hold control of the senate. that is going to complicate your desire and the desire by the progressives for bold sweeping progressive legislation. theoretically you can pass anything you want in the house
9:44 pm
but doesn't matter if it goes to die in the senate. how are you going to negotiate that? are you working with more moderate senate republicans to try to pass something in the house that can get through the senate. >> well, i'm going to spending my next couple of months doing everything that i can to extend help and offer support to the work of fantastic leaders we just heard from like stacey abrams to make sure we don't have a republican senate majority, that we win these races in georgia, that we secure a democratic senate majority so that we don't have to negotiate in that way. so, you know, these senate runoff races, they are on january 5th, i believe, and that is right around the time that we will be preparing to swear in now president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris. i think it's really important that we all work very hard to give them a democratic senate as well. >> after the election results comeback from georgia, i'll ask
9:45 pm
you that question again, okay? >> you got it. >> i'll let you punt that one now. house speaker nancy pelosi says she thinks biden has a tremendous mandate but democrats in congress are potentially looking at a smaller house majority and theoretically, a republican senate. i want to play something that was said on a conference call of house democrats i' heard as it happened live. take a listen. >> i imagine you disagree with that assessment. why is she wrong? >> so, you know, first and foremost, i want to acknowledge that so many -- i acknowledge, first of all, the long hard fight a lot of our district members had and it is not to deny that republicans levied very effective rhetorical attacks against our party. that, i believe, is absolutely true, but i think one of the things that is very important is that is to realize that very effective republican attacks are going to happen every cycle so the question is how do we defend ourselves against that? if you look at some of these, you know, some of the arguments that are being advanced, the defund the police or arguments
9:46 pm
about socialism hurt, not a single member of congress that i'm aware of campaigned on socialism or defunding the police in this general election. and these were largely slogans or they were demands from activist groups that we saw in the largest uprising in american history against police brutality. so how can we build a more strong to republican attacks? i think many areas we can point out in centralized democratic operations that are extraordinarily weak. for example, our digital campaigning is very weak. this is an area where republicans are actually quite strong. you know, president trump, he won the 2016 election as we know largely on digital organizing and strategy. i believe that many republicans were very effective at digital organizing strategy as well whereas the democratic party is still campaigning as though it's 2005 and that was 15 years ago. we can do better. when we really dig down and refine our operations, we can be more resilient to these strong republican attacks.
9:47 pm
9:48 pm
you said, quote. do you really think other democrats see you as the enemy? do you think joe biden sees you that way? >> i don't believe president biden sees me that way. i think one of the reasons why he won election. there is a marked difference between 2020 and 2016 and how the democratic party was able to unify to joe biden's credit before the election and get everyone on the same page to make sure that we vote donald trump out of office. that being said, you know, there are, at least in the house caucus, very deep divisions within the party and i believe that we need to really come together and not allow republican narratives to tear us apart.
9:49 pm
as you mentioned, we have a slimmer democratic majority. it's going to be more important than ever for us to work together and not fight each other. and so when we kind of come out swinging, not 48 hours after tuesday, when we don't each have solid data yet, pointing fingers and telling each other what to do, it deepens the division in the party and it's irresponsible, it's irresponsible to pour gasoline on these already very delicate tensions in the party. so we can help. it's not saying that every member has to campaign as a progressive in a traditional progressive way. but it's to say we have assets to offer the party, that the party is not yet, you know, fully leaned into or exploited. i believe that we can take some of these seats. i think katie porter is an amazing example and michael levin. they are swing seats. every swing seat member that co-sponsored medicare for all, won the election. the conversation goes deeper than that, than just saying
9:50 pm
everything is tax ek andoxic ang message. >> congratulations on the joe biden and kamala harris ticket and your own re-election. >> thank you. thank you. our next guest is one of the first governor hogan. you were one of, if not the first elected republican officials, to acknowledge that joe biden is the president-elect. there has been radio silence from most republicans in washington. is it time for your party to acknowledge that this is over? >> well, look, jake, the way our system works is we all cast the votes. we count the votes, and then we live with the results. and there is an awful lot of, i understand the frustrations and concern. look, if there is evidence of widespread voter fraud, we ought to come out with it.
9:51 pm
>> have you seen any evidence? >> i haven't seen any evidence and i don't -- look, a couple of republican governors are responsible for a couple of the states in questions. they haven't questioned the results. we want to make sure every single vote is counted fairly, and i think there are legal processes if you think there are mistakes but i don't think we are going to see anything that will overturn the election and i haven't seen any evidence of widespread -- this is the way the system works. whether you like it or not. it's time o get behind the winner of the race. >> should president trump concede the election? >> i think he ought to at least acknowledge that he will, even if it may take a few more days for cooler heads to prevail and to convince him it's the right thing to do for the nation. we do have still, i think, three states outstanding. hopefully, that will happen any day now. but at some point i think very soon the narrative may change, more and more people in my party
quote
9:52 pm
are accepting the results and a number of people also did congratulate the president-elect, and hopefully the president's team will do the right thing in the end. >> it's a vast minority of official republicans who have congratulated president-elect biden. it's like you, mitt romney, the newly elected governor of utah. i mean, we haven't heard from mitch mcconnell. we haven't heard from kevin mccarthy. i have to say, just as an american -- >> charlie baker, phil scott. >> okay. but, i mean, as an american citizen, it's really disappointing. not you, but your party's leaders are acting like babies. you lost the election. congratulate the president-elect. >> well, look, i think i have always felt that our american democracy was more important than any one person or any one election. and that while i understand the disappointment and frustration
9:53 pm
from a lot of people that didn't get the outcome they were hoping for, we do have to -- the most important thing is that we respect our democratic process and we always have had for 200 years a peaceful transition of power. hopefully, we are going to get there, jake. >> after president trump repeatedly lied about the election from the white house, you tweeted, quote, there is no defense for the president's comments tonight undermining our democratic process, unquote. and again you don't have to answer for the bad actors in your party. you have always stood up for, as a conservative, who stands up for facts and decency and american institutions. but there are so many leaders of the republican party, lindsey graham, ted cruz, kevin mccarthy, not only not congratulating joe biden, but defending these ludicrous allegations that the president won the election, that it was all fraud. are you disappointed? >> well, i think history will judge who is on the right side
9:54 pm
of that argument. i wasn't a supporter of joe biden's, but i am a supporter of the democratic process and the way we have always conducted our elections. so i think some of them are making mistakes. hopefully, that will change in the next couple of days as we get the last three states in. i think vice president biden's lead could actually increase from where it is today. i am hoping that cooler heads will prevail because, you know, our system is much too important. look, i'll tell you this. it was a really big night for republicans across the country. you were talking earlier, we gained -- we held on to the senate. we gained seats in the house. we gained governors seats, legislative bodies, gained state legislative seats. republicans across the country were running ahead of the president. i don't think it was a mandate for moving to the far left. i think it was a mandate for moderation and for working together because people are frustrated with the divisive and angry politics. at some point we have got to try
9:55 pm
to work on lowering the temperature and working together on bipartisan common sense solutions to the serious problems facing the country. >> maryland governor larry hogan, just a very quick question. yes or no, are you thinking about possibly running for president in 2024? >> i think we've got a long time before we start talking about that, jake. >> are you thinking about it? is it something you are thinking about? >> a lot of people are encouraging me to think about it, but i am in the middle of a state emergency focused on the virus, the pandemic, and our economic recovery. and we have a long time to talk about this over the next pure years. let's get beyond the 2020 race first. >> thank you, governor hogan, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> for anyone who has been paying attention for the last five years, president trump's refusal to acknowledge that he lost the election and his refusal to concede graciously was completely expected.
9:56 pm
that so many republican officials to this day have yet to acknowledge president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris is not a surprise. neither senate majority leader mitch mcconnell or kevin mccarthy have issued statements congratulating biden and harris. much less reached out to them to offer to work together for the american people. again, not a shock. with very few notable exceptions, including governor hogan and senator romney, republican officials have been complicit in the indecent behavior the president has subjected the nation to for the last five years. the lies, the cruelty, the inadequate handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has cost more than 237,000 lives in the united states, a number that continues to grow. they no longer have to behave this way, republican leaders, but right now many of them are either, a, going along with this fiction that there is any
9:57 pm
credible evidence of election fraud, or, b, they are issuing mealey mouthed statements about how the statement has every right to seek his day in court, for any legitimate claim, even though they know there are no legitimate claims. so why? after all, president trump will be shown the door on january 20th whether he concedes or not. well, it's because he is not leaving american political life. as long as there is a twitter and a right-wing media ecosystem, donald trump will have a voice. as long as he has a voice, he will have influence with his tens of millions of supporters. and as long as he has influence with those supporters, republicans who want to gain or to keep power will refuse to cross him. in his address to the nation last night, president-elect biden did something i have never heard a president-elect do. he presented as his mandate the notion of compromise. the desire to work with
9:58 pm
republicans. the desire to heal divisions. this quality is one of the things about him that many progressives disdain. they think he is naive. is he? are republicans going to accept his offer in good faith? will they join democrats, roll up their sleeves and do everything they can to help this nation in pain? i don't know. the 70 million trump voters, they need leadership, frankly. they need to have their concerns addressed and fought for. right now the majority of republicans in washington, they are not on planet earth. they are with these guys. do you know what this is? this is a press conference held by rudy giuliani yesterday making unsubstantiated allegations about voter fraud. the president billed this as taking place at the four seasons hotel in downtown philadelphia but it ended up being held in
9:59 pm
the back of four seasons total landscaping, no relation to the hotel. very far from the center of philadelphia next to fantasy island adult books, across from the delaware valley cremation center, in an industrial part of town north of the tacony-palmyra bridge. an obvious screw-up in booking. they played along, pretended that was the master plan the whole time. that's what republican lawmakers want to stick with? good luck with that. thanks for spending your sunday morning with us. the news continues right now. not wasting in i time.
10:00 pm
u.s. president-elect joe biden sets day one plans for his presidency including taking on the coronavirus pandemic. the president trump he's not conceding. his team planning a tough fight in the court and on the road. insisting without any proof that he's been wronged. and with the upcoming transition in power world leaders aren't the only ones reacting. how markets are trending over the u.s. election out come. hello, welcome to viewers in the united states. and all around the world. this is cnn "newsroom." u.s. president-elect joe biden quickly moving forward with his plans for fixing the country as the trump camp reprepares to fight the election results. biden is planning to undo several executive actions and
167 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on